@JamesMartinSJ and internet bullying

It seems that a Twitter user accused Jesuit homosexualist activist Fr James Martin of writing fake supportive letters to himself.  The person who wrote that accusation (who later apologized) used a sardonic generic label “RadTrad Twitter™”: “So, it appears we at RadTrad Twitter™ do owe @JamesMartinSJ an apology.”  This is like saying, “we here in SanityLand™ (not a real thing) think you are wrong” rather than “we here at America Magazine (a real thing) are crazy”.

Martin posted a video via Twitter in which he shows some letters people have written to him. He resorts to calling the Twitter user not by his actual Twitter handle, but by a variation of the generic, throw away label, “Rad Trad Catholic Twitter”.

Martin, who isn’t stupid and who knows the difference between the handle of a single user of Twitter who wrote about him and, on the other hand that “RadTrad Twitter™” throw away, made a modification of the throw away as a shaming term.

This is tantamount to: “Anyone Catholic who objects to my homosexualist agenda” is a ‘Rad Trad’!”  It’s a subtle form of bullying.

Martin used “Rad Trad Catholic” as a hate-term to smear the huge number of people who object to his homosexualist agenda.  In an ironic twist, Martin did what I’m confident he objects to when people use “faggot” for people with same-sex inclinations.

When the Twitter guy used “RadTrad Twitter™” it was a throw away.  When Martin used “Rad Trad Catholic”, it was name calling.

But he can do that because he’s “building bridges”.

Martin uses Twitter to push his homosexualist agenda.

I was going to write about the following when it came up, because it dealt with the Diocese of Madison, but I let it pass at the time.  Now, however, we should have a look at the way Martin works on Twitter.

Martin used Twitter to wade into something on my home turf and to push his homosexualist agenda.

I am not going to get into the details of the case, but in nutshell, a woman lost her job at a Catholic grade school in the Diocese of Madison for her open, public support of homosexualism on Facebook.  She also had a bumper sticker on her car that read, “America needs nasty women”.  Not the greatest example for Catholic school children.

Martin jumps in on Twitter.  His message is clear, though implicit: Never mind policy and principles, she should keep the job at the Catholic school.

By spotlighting the situation in Madison, homosexualist activist Jesuit Martin engaged in intimidation.  Now that Bp. Morlino has passed away, Martin is testing the new guy, Bp. Hying.

In other words, this is internet bullying.

This is what we expect from homosexualist activists, because homosexualism – the need relentlessly to jam it in everywhere – is a totalitarian ideology.

But he does it with a smile, so it’s okay.

Let’s frame what Martin wrote in his tweet another way.

Martin acknowledged that the former employee exposed herself on Facebook and then, later, said she wouldn’t do that again.  Hence, she should keep the job.

Let’s say that you are a public “flasher”.  You know what a flasher is, right?  You live next to a Catholic grade school.  You occasionally expose yourself to school children. You also have something awful written on your trench coat.  You get caught.  After all… it was public.  You promise you won’t do it again.  “I take it back!  I won’t use that coat anymore and I won’t flash here.  I don’t renounced my desire to flash, but I’m sorry that I got caught.  I’ll make sure I don’t get caught again.”  Therefore, you argue, you should continue to live unchallenged next to the Catholic grade school.

Let’s refine this.  You don’t live next to the school.  You, the flasher, work at the school.

The former-school employee in question exposed her views on Facebook and on her car’s bumper.  But hey! Everyone now is supposed to unsee all of that and pretend it doesn’t matter.

That’s what Martin was saying in his Tweet. “Hey! She deleted the post in which she exposed herself! She should keep her job with the children despite your clearly stated policy!”

This is why so many are increasingly irritated with the agenda of homosexualists.  They want to jam open homosexualism into every possible venue.  They weaponize sentimentality to contravene common sense and they resort to bullying, subtle and not so subtle.

UPDATE:

This note came into my email today.  It’s from a smart, scholarly, thoughtful guy.

Good afternoon, Father:

Two things come to mind regarding Fr Martin.

First, and speaking from a Charismatic Catholic background, it appears to me, in the strongest way possible, that Fr Martin has an infestation of the ‘spirit of mockery’–that is to say, jeering at piety, not unlike the”professionally religious” visitors to Jerusalem who thought the Apostles were drunk (Acts 2:13; cf Mt 27:42).  Someone afflicted with this malice is in need of deliverance/minor exorcism.

Second, let’s assume his project comes to fruition, namely the fullest acceptance of “LGBTQ” in the Church.  Then what?  I’m seeing exactly nothing about–even within the framework of homosexual liaisons–chastity as gay/lesbian persons, reform of the gay culture in repudiating pornography, sex clubs, kink, and the like.  In other words, is the acceptance a one-way street?  What does he think Christ is demanding by way of discipleship?  Or is the whole Church supposed to look like Most Holy Redeemer Parish in San Francisco or St Ambrose’s Parish in West Hollywood?

I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on this.

I think you may be on to something.  Demons can attach to people who are into certain things.  And point about “discipleship” is well-taken.  I pair this with the sardonic line from Bob Hope quoted in a comment, below.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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17 Comments

  1. I don’t carry much water for Fr. Martin–but is “Rad Trad Catholic” actually a slur? I have Catholic friends who refer to themselves as Rad Trads–and I’ve called myself one from time to time. This isn’t like the N-word is it–where it’s not a slur for blacks to use it, but it’s a slur for everyone else?

    [When Martin uses it, it’s a slur.]

  2. veritas vincit says:

    ‘Martin used “Rad Trad Catholic” as a hate-term to smear the huge number of people who object to his homosexualist agenda. ‘

    I am not a “traditionalist Catholic” in the sense used by most on this blog. But if opposing the homosexual agenda makes me a “Rad Trad Catholic,” I’ll wear that with pride.

  3. Gregg the Obscure says:

    Of all people, the late Bob Hope had one of the great lines about homosexual activism (probably because he would have had copious exposure to them in Hollywood). “Today the state of California decriminalized homosexuality. I hope I’m out of here before they make it mandatory.”

  4. Charles E Flynn says:

    @Gregg the Obscure,

    Bob Hope converted to Catholicism at the age of ninety three:

    Bob Hope and His Ladies of Hope

    http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/bob-hope-and-his-ladies-of-hope

  5. MitisVis says:

    Now that Catholic priests are vilified and despised, not to be trusted with children or money and guilty by association with the Church…

    The present-church employee, editor at large and Vatican consultant in question exposed his views on Facebook and in his editorials and TV appearances, books, speaking tour, promoting the same behavior that created this mess. But hey! Everyone now is supposed to unsee all of that and pretend it doesn’t matter.

    I guess we should never underestimate the power of “fairy dust.”

  6. Gregg the Obscure says:

    @Charles E Flynn – i happened to know that. late in the long process of my becoming Catholic (late 99, early y2k) i lived in Los Angeles and i saw him at Mass a few times. IIRC that was at St. Charles Borromeo

  7. tho says:

    How can a priest not be aware that sodomy is one of the four sins that cry out to Heaven for vengeance.

  8. veritas vincit says:

    From Father Z’s update:

    ” I’m seeing exactly nothing about–even within the framework of homosexual liaisons–chastity as gay/lesbian persons, reform of the gay culture in repudiating pornography, sex clubs, kink, and the like. In other words, is the acceptance a one-way street? What does he think Christ is demanding by way of discipleship? ”

    I would be very interested in hearing what Father Martin SJ would have to say about that. Claiming to follow church teaching, he should be urging those who are same-sex-attracted to chastity and away from all those things.

  9. richdel says:

    Good schools always ensure that its teachers are on the same page with regard to implementing the school’s mission and vision in the teachers’ own individual spheres, most evidently in their classrooms. There is no telling what a teacher is saying or doing behind closed doors with the students – little, more suggestive winks and nods toward certain ideas and behavior are even less identifiable by school administrators when what a teacher objectively DID or SAID has to be filtrated through what the students see or hear, passed on to their parents, then back to the administrators…and teachers know this. Administrators can’t take action on what a student THOUGHT a teacher may have meant based on tone of voice, facial expression, or body language when referring in a potentially derisive way to the Church or any of its teachings. That is why buy-in to a school’s mission and vision on a teacher’s part is so crucial for a Catholic school’s collaborative implementation of a continuous cycle of improvement.

    So, when a teacher says or does something that makes it clear that he or she has no personal buy-in to a school’s mission and vision, the school has every right – even the responsibility – to let that teacher go.

  10. Matthew says:

    Why would they even hire someone like that. We always look at the cars that applicants drive to the interview. Then again, we’re trusted with important things.

  11. Bob B. says:

    tho: I remember a decade or so ago when our school’s teachers were having an in-service given by a not-so-young priest, known to be on the rise in the diocese. He was asked about the Sins that Cry to Heaven for Vengeance and he said he had never heard of them. They were read to him and he was asked for a comment, which he refused to do so. No one believed him then and today he has a high office in the diocese.

  12. Kukla65th says:

    Bob Hope lived a significant amount of the time in a (now) landmark home in Palm Springs…explains itself.

  13. tho says:

    Bob B.: Every organization has rules, or a guide to live by. Can you imagine baseball without rules, the same applies to life, or more particularly the church. Homosexuality is chaos personified, there are no rules, the LGBTQ says that. We must define what rules we need to obey to achieve Heaven, just as in any baseball game, can you imagine changing the rules to two or even four outs ends an inning, or five balls is a walk. The church rightly says that homosexual acts are disordered, we must obey the rules, it is for our benefit.

  14. JumpJet says:

    Father “Martinet” is just that…until a bishop publicly denounces his activity and that of the Jesuit order, his quest for notoriety and power will proceed unabated; but then again that might be just what he wants in order to bolster his image of an oppressed victim of homophobia.

    The Mad Hatter is running the Church at the moment but Our Lord will bring sanity back…in His time.

  15. Legisperitus says:

    tho: All true, but of course the natural law is much more than just “rules for an organization.” It applies to all human beings.

  16. tho says:

    Legisperitus: Thank you, and I am in firm agreement with you.

  17. RLseven says:

    I think that’s a wide stretch… how can you know what his intentions were? And, why is anything he or other libs says about trads more a slur than what I’ve read/heard many trads say about libs? Specks and planks… The only ones not really guilty of this are the ones who go to Mass for their obligation and really don’t give a rip about these petty church wars.

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